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| − | <title>Applied Design</title>
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| − | <h1><b><u><center>Applied Design</center></u></b></h1>
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| − | <p>A 2016 report written by Harvard Law School shows that South Africa
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| − | Have failed to adress the adverse environmental and health
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| − | effects of more than 130 years of gold mining in and around
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| − | Johannesburg.</p>
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| − | <p>Mining, and more specifically the contaminated waste created
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| − | by the mining industry, causes damage to the environment that is
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| − | largely irreversible. Mine waste, or <i>tailings</i>, can contain as many
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| − | as three dozen hazardous chemicals, including lead, arsenic, mercury and cyanide
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| − | to name but a few.</p>
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| − |
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| − | <p>Unfortunately, governments in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) are
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| − | not acting quickly enough on what is already a huge and growing
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| − | environmental catastrophe. With the World's leading mining country
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| − | being South Africa, this lack of action taken by the govermnent is
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| − | putting lives at risk.</p>
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| − | <h2><b>Current Methods</b></h2>
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| − | <p>There are two routes that current treatments can take: active treatment methods require
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| − | energy and chemical usage, whereas passive treatment methods use only natural processes,
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| − | which can include gravity, plants, or even microorganisms.</p>
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| − |
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| − | <p>Such passive processes include Vertical Flow Ponds (VFP’s). This was a £1 million funded scheme to remove metal pollutants leaching from did-used mines in Cumbria (Anon, 2013). The scheme bio-remediates water to firstly remove metal contaminants and then allow the outflow to enter wetland where it is filtered through limestone and compost. (Adam Jarvis, 2015).</p>
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| − | <p>In addition to this there is ongoing research conducted by the GW4 Alliance into using algae as a form of wastewater treatment. Dr Chris Byran and Dr Mark van der Giezen along with researchers from Bristol, Cardiff and Bath Universities as well as Plymouth Marine Laboratories took samples form the Wheal Jane tin mine and attempted culture algae in them. Testing proved that algae was capable of growing in the mine water and showed that the presence of metals resulted into a greater conversion of bio-mass to bio-crude, which is used to make bio-fuels. The research which has attracted the attention of industry and academics alike is hoped to be applied to waste streams in the future.<p>
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| − |
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| − | <p>Active water treatment is far more common. Clarifying agents such as coagulants or flocculants are will later clump together and are then left to settle before they are removed, dried out and eventually disposed of – most commonly in a waste disposal site. To find out more about the current active treatment scheme employed at Wheal Jane, use the link "https://2017.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Current_Methods" to see what wed discovered on our field trip and interview there!</p>
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| − | <p>"Areas affected by contaminated mine water are often damaged for many decades, if not
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| − | centuries. Because the treatment of polluted mine water is usually expensive, active
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| − | treatment is usually used in heavily populated areas, at working mines, or where governmental
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| − | money was made available for treatment purposes." (Wolkersdorfer, C. 2008)</p>
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| − |
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| − | <p>However, these methods have proven to have high maintenance and running costs. Hence governments of LEDCs would be unlikely to invest in such technologies when there may be more pressing issues. Additionally the storage of residual waste and its future effect on the environment is becoming a growing concern.</p>
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| − |
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| − | <p>With this in mind our team at Exeter have spent the summer working on developing a cost effective and sustainable solution which will have a reduced effect on the environment than compared to the existing technologies in use.</p>
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| − | <h2><b>Our Solution</b></h2>
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| − | <p>The Pili+ Filtration System offers a cheap to run, cheap to produce
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| − | alternative to current methods of decontaminating mine waste. It is comprised
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| − | of three modular components, each of which will be easy to replace or adapt in the
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| − | event of damage or situational change.</p>
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| − |
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| − | <p>The first component is the <b><i>hydrocyclone</i></b>.
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| − | The hydrocyclone relies on its conical geometry to filter larger particulates, such
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| − | as sand, from contaminated water. This function is required to prevent blockages in the
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| − | fluidised media reactor, component two. We have chosen to use a hydrocyclone because
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| − | it has no moving parts, requires only a pump, and small versions can easily be
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| − | 3D printed, or manufactured using simple and affordable methods. This makes it
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| − | perfect for useage in LEDCs where resources are scarce yet situation is critical.</p>
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| − |
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| − | <p>The second component, as mentioned previously, is the <b><i>fluidised media reactor</i></b> (FMR).
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| − | The fluidised media reactor is a piece of cylindrical housing apparatus designed to contain
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| − | our genetically modified bacteria. The water, now free of large particulates, is fed into the top
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| − | of the FMR. It travels down through the central pipe, and slowly rises back through the outer pipe,
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| − | in which the bacteria are contained. The E.Coli are grown on a sponge material, using
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| − | mouthwash which stresses the bacteria and promotes the development of a biofilm. Here,
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| − | we have optimised the flow rateto ensure that the bacteria have a high probability of binding
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| − | to the targeted metal ions.</p>
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| − |
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| − | <p>The third component has been designed to ensure the containment of the genetically
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| − | modified bacteria.</p>
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| − | <h2><b><u>References (Harvard)</u></b></h2>
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| − | <ol type="A">
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| − | <li>Wolkersdorfer, C., Chapter 11: Mine Water Treatment and Ground Water Protection in Water
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| − | Management at Abandoned Flooded Underground Mines: Fundamentals, Tracer Tests, Modelling, Water
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| − | Treatment, A. International Mine Water and I. ebrary, Editors. 2008, Springer:
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| − | Berlin. p. 235.</li>
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| − |
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| − | <li>Adam Jarvis, e. a., 2015. Metal Removal and Secondary Contamination in a Passive Metal Mine Drainage Treatment System, s.l. :10th International Conference on acid rock drainage and IMWA Annual Conference.</li>
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| − | <li>Anon, 2014. Univeristy of Bristol. [Online]
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| − | Available at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2014/december/algae-to-clean-mine-water.html
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| − | [Accessed 15 8 2017].</li>
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| − | <li>Anon., 2013. BBC: Heavy metals from Cumbria mine tackled in lagoons pilot. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-24380858 [Accessed 1 August 2017].</li>
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